JGreer, that is the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard. Im a huge cubs fan and a die hard fantasy baseball participant. How can you say that Zambrano (my favorite player), is the ace? First, that is ridiculous. Second, Maddux is the number two? That is even more ridiculous than the first statement you made. I know maddux wins 15+ a year, and is a great pitcher, but #2 on the Cubs staff? What are you watching? Wood has not won more than 14 in a season but has sone nasty stuff. As a Cubs fan, Wood has never gotten run support. How you could actually say that Prior AND Wood are behind Maddux and Zambrano is beyond me. I feel like Zambrano is successful because he isnt expected to carry the load (and he is amazing). If you move him up to #1 or #2, he may fail due to pressing. Its clearly: #1 Prior; #2; Wood; #3 Zambrano, #4 Maddux; #5 (Rusch, Mitre, etc.). That is the most obvious rotation. As a Zambrano fan, he shows alot of emotion and may not be ready to carry the load of being in the top 2 of the staff. I think he will be a Cy winner in the future, but not quite yet.

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Zambrano is very good, but he isn't above Prior. Zambrano may have better stuff then anyone on the roster, I'm not one to agree or disagree cause I think it's real close, but Prior is a better pitcher easily. Prior has much better control and he knows how to pitch better.

he was on a team like Washington or Tampa Bay, hed be higher like Ol Perez & Sheets , cause those teams have no one else, they are magnified

C - Zam a very solid option

Yeah, guys get a ton more press playing in Milwaukee than do those that play for the Cubs.

Career Best K/9Sheets - 10.0
Zambrano 8.1

Career Best K/BBSheets - 8.25
Zambrano - 2.32

The only thing "magnified" seems to be the claim that Zambrano has comperable stuff to Sheets.

One other note of caution on Zambrano would be that he was third in the majors in pitcher abuse points last season, and number of pitches per start. Prior and Wood have fallen victim to injury under Baker's reign. Perhaps Zambrano's big frame will allow him to continue to endure heavy workloads (much like a Livan Hernandez), but it is something to monitor. Things could get better if Zambrano becomes more effective in economizing his pitches. 112 pitches per start, yielding only 209 innings pitched is slightly concerning.

I agree with Looptid, I had/have Zambrano (multiple leauges) and i loved what he did for me last year. But in single season leauges im concerned about him. Dusty does have the ability to overwork pitchers

[quote="jbones733"]Priors next, he has the best stuff on thats staff
[/quote]
It's one thing to be high on a player, it's quite another to make him out to be something he is not. Prior is one of the top talents in all of baseball. When the Randy Johnsons, Pedros & Schillings of the world retire, it will be Prior & Santana who are going to be the top pitchers in baseball for a very long time, IMO. Can you really say that about Zam?

I have him ranked ahead of Wood right now but not Prior and no way is Maddux the #2 on the Cubs.

C-Zam is a hot head and there are some legitimate concerns about him breaking down but I think he is being underrated this year. We are talking about a 24 year old who last year had 16 wins, 2.75 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 188 K. Plus he has been showing steady improvement.

Thanks for the sane and rational responses from here on out...
I agree with several of the above posts - I have owned Zambrano for the past 2 years. (I got on the bandwagon before last year!) He brings great #s for you in K's, IP, etc. and some nice wins, but he will never be mentioned in the same breath as someone like Prior or Santana. Zambrano still scares me everytime he takes the mound. He gets emotional, he's not economical with his pitches and Dusty's habit of leaving him out there too long are all concerns to me.

People, Zambrano is only 23! He has been in the shadow of Prior and Wood but he is much more dependable at this point. Dusty argument is a strong one but until I see him start fading, I wouldn't bet against him. He is showing progress every season and I don't expect that to change especially since the team is not depending on him to be the #1 guy.

He is just as good if not better than Wood. I have serious doubts about Wood's ceiling at this point. I will give him one more year. However, I think if Prior can stay healthy, he will be the best pitcher in his generation.

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin

Just to piggyback of off Yoda's comments... I agree w/ the Wood/Zambrano comparison. Zambrano probably will be better. And regardless about my concerns for him that I posted above, I am going to ride him until he falls. I got him for nothing and will use him until his arm falls off. Go Z!